Becoming Steam
by Artemis Day
Summary: Sometimes, the little moments can mean so much more than we think. And sometimes, they don't, but they're nice to acknowledge anyway. 31 drabbles for Zutara Month.


******Relief**

Zuko comes back and immediately feels the dulled, yet still burning pain of Azula's attack. He opens his eyes, sees Katara's clear blue and tear filled eyes staring down at him, and thanks Agni above that he made it.

* * *

**Luminous**

He sets his hand alight, so they can see the path that leads to home. Katara is still annoyed that their cab lost a wheel and left them to walk, but Zuko can't seem to hear her complaints. He's too busy staring at the little mark on her neck from last night, that the flame fully illuminates.

* * *

**Potential**

Their son first made sparks come out of his fingers at age two. Zuko and Katara were the only witnesses, and they were amazed. Katara immediately decided that he'd be a powerful bender one day.

"Just like his father."

She smiled knowingly at Zuko, who couldn't help but smile back.

* * *

**Change**

Even after becoming Fire Lady, Katara never left her Water Tribe roots behind. She wore blue wherever she could and alternated daily between leaving her hair down and braiding it. Many citizens, particularly the females, became very interested in the latter. Within a couple of weeks, braids and hair loops were all the rage in the Fire Nation.

* * *

**Serenade**

It turns out Zuko is a bad singer. A _really_ bad singer. He's also _really_easy to get drunk. Sokka, Toph and Katara found this out the hard way one night; the former two when they challenged Zuko to a drinking contest, and the latter when he decided, in a drunken haze, that declaring his love for her in song was simply the only way to do it.

The next morning, Sokka and Toph were still laughing, the entire palace was trying to figure out how a dying cat could've gotten on the premises, and Zuko had the worst hangover humanly possible. Katara had to wait until he was better to tell him she felt the same way.

* * *

**Desired**

Zuko was determined never to be the father Ozai was. He showered his children with love and affection, he never pushed them too hard in their bending lessons, and he bought them everything they could've wanted. And when their oldest daughter realized she had Daddy wrapped around her little finger…

"Daddy, I want that doll!"

"Now, now, you just got a new doll last week."

"B-but… I r-really really want it. Pleeeeeeease!"

"Well…"

When her toybox was full to bursting, Katara forbade Zuko from going shopping with their daughter alone ever again.

* * *

**Pride**

He worked on it for days, going many a sleepless night in order to get it done sooner rather than later. He wasn't much of a craftsman, but he would accept no help, no matter how much faster this would get done if he did. He knew the traditions. This was his job and his job only, nobody else could do it for him.

When the betrothal necklace was finished and he was presenting it to her, the first thing she said was that it was beautiful. He felt such a sense of accomplishment, but it was immediately wiped away when she wrapped her arms around him and pulled herself up. All he could feel then was her lips on his.

* * *

**Prejudice**

The announcement of their engagement was met with a decidedly mixed reaction. Where the common folk was nothing but happy for them- as evidenced by their cheers when Katara was formally introduced as Zuko's fiancee- the same couldn't said for the Nobility, particularly those left over from Ozai's time. From then on, attending banquets and formal events was like stepping into a sea of harsh, judging eyes constantly trained on her. They made no secret their disdain, whispering about her and her clothes and her behavior, like she was something so very alien to them; something inferior.

Katara answered them all with a smile and a wave.

They could complain all they wanted, she was here to stay.

* * *

**Sublime**

Her first time in the Fire Nation, Katara had been too busy preparing for the upcoming battle for the fate of the world to really take in the sights.

Her second time in the Fire Nation comes three years later, after she's spent the last few months at her home in the Southern Water Tribe. It's a stark change, both in climate and in atmosphere. Zuko takes a much needed day off to take her around the towns and surrounding fields. It's all very common for Zuko, nothing special or unique. Katara, on the other hand, is entranced by the view.

"This is amazing, you can see everything up here."

They are standing at the top of the observatory, looking out at the forests and the mountain ranges. Under the setting sun and reddening sky, he supposes they look nice. Nicer than normal anyway.

"I never knew the Fire Nation was so beautiful."

Zuko shrugs. "I guess. Once you've lived here for awhile, you'll start to get used to it."

Katara looks at him teasingly. "What does that mean? Are you planning to keep me here?"

Zuko sputters, his face turning bright red, and Katara laughs.

* * *

**Affliction**

Zuko sits off to the side of the dance floor. He's gotten several requests for a dance from over-eager, starry eyed young women. They are all beautiful, but he turns them down one by one. He's still feeling full from dinner, he tells them.

Katara is in the center of a circle of dancing couples, wrapped in the arms of Aang, her new husband.

Zuko catches a glimpse of her face, though he'd rather not look at her at all. She looks at Aang with shining eyes full of love that she'll only ever give to him. He's one she married today after all.

Zuko turns away to face the wall. He clutches his stomach, so no one will suspect it's his heart that hurts.

* * *

**Intimacy**

It becomes clear to Zuko that he'll never feel as close to another woman as he does to Katara. It's not even just the stories and the secrets they share, it's the way he holds her in the dead of night, with not a single piece of clothing to separate his naked skin from hers.

* * *

**Mistake**

Katara's 30th birthday party ended in disaster when a herd of ostrich horses suddenly bolted through the courtyard. They frightened all the children with their squawking, tipped over tables and chairs and, at one point, knocking a screaming Sokka into the turtle duck pond.

Zuko was furious when he confronted the cowering stablehand. The man shrunk under his ruler's penetrating gaze as sweat poured down his face at a rate that would leave him more drenched than Sokka.

"I-I swear, my Lord, I didn't mean to fall asleep. I-I had a bad cough this morning. M-My wife bought the herbs yesterday and the seller said they would help clear it up. Neither of us knew they caused drowsiness! P-p-please have mercy!"

In retrospect, the man was lucky everyone- baring Sokka, but especially Katara- thought the whole thing was hilarious. Otherwise, Zuko might have actually fired him.

* * *

**Festival**

Exactly one year after Ozai's defeat and the end of the 100 year war, Festivals are held in all three nations to celebrate. The one in the Fire Nation is by far the biggest, doubtlessly thanks to the attendance of the Avatar himself. While Aang is busy meeting with fans and entertaining the children with his airbending, Katara goes off in search of something to do on her own.

She finds herself in one of Iroh's teashops, and is surprised and rather amused to find a poorly disguised Zuko waiting tables. She takes one by the window, and smiles when Zuko approaches. She can tell be the look on his face that he knows she isn't fooled. He leans in close to her.

"Please don't say anything, I'm just here to help out Uncle."

Katara eyes his dusty brown wig and caked on make-up that almost, but not quite, hides his scar. It's amazing no one else has noticed thus far.

"I'll have some ginseng tea," she says. "Just promise not to get any of that powder in it, and my lips are sealed."

* * *

**Stranger**

It often baffled Katara that the angry and villianous boy she first met years ago and the noble and kind-hearted man she knows now are one and the same. Even in appearance, Zuko is almost completely changed. His scar is still there, but he has a full head of hair and his eyes and his features are softer. He smiles now, and it makes him look so handsome she can barely stand it.

She thinks of the person he used to be as someone else, because she knows the Zuko before her now is and always has been the real one, even when he didn't know it himself.

* * *

**Wonderland**

One night, their daughter out of the blue asks Zuko for a bedtime story. She usually just goes right to sleep, so this request catches Zuko off guard and he struggles for a moment. When she breaks out the quivering lip, Zuko is helpless against her. He sighs and gets himself into a more comfortable position as the tiny slip of a girl snuggles deeper under the covers.

"Once upon a time…"

Katara comes in an hour later, wondering what's taking her husband so long. She finds Zuko regaling their daughter with a tale of a magical land where turtle ducks can talk and firebenders bend fire in all different colors and not just 'boring ole' red' as she would say.

Katara doesn't know where Zuko is getting all this from, and one look at his face confirms he doesn't either. At least their daughter is enthralled.

* * *

**Separate**

There is a six month period after the end of the war where they don't see each other. Katara is at home, helping to rebuild, while Zuko works to promote peace among his subjects. They are very busy during this time. They have only a few hours each day to themselves, and they often spend them resting.

Katara walks along the water, looking out at the calm ocean and listening to the waves. Zuko sits in his chambers, a book in his lap that he isn't reading. Their minds wander freely, they both have a lot to think about. At some point, maybe not at the exact same time, they wonder how the other is doing right now.

* * *

**Snow**

A snowball came Katara's way, thrown by a little boy coached by Toph. She has no idea what Toph is thinking, until she's shoved to the ground on her back. The snowball flies by harmlessly. A pair of golden eyes stare down at her, and Katara flushes. Zuko is turning red himself, and staring down at her wide eyed, as if he's only just realized what he did and what position they're now in.

Somewhere behind them, Toph is laughing.

* * *

**Heat**

If there's one thing Katara hates about the Fire Nation, it's days like this, in the middle of summer, when it's so hot she thinks her skin is melting off.

She finds herself in an empty spot on the beach, in nothing but her bindings, under a large rock that provides the only shade for miles. She's sweating bullets and miserable. She tries to distract by bending the ocean water, making shapes and water whips and having them dance around. A couple of kids wandering nearby stop to watch, awestruck, until their parents pull them away.

Eventually, Katara is joined by another, someone who should have been there over an hour ago. She looks up to reprimand him, but finds that Zuko isn't any happier about this heat than she is. He's already pulling his shirt off.

"I can't wait until winter…" he grumbles.

Katara stares at him, bare chested and glimmering with sweat, and for once, she disagrees.

* * *

**Stubborn**

Maybe it was the year they spent as enemies, but Zuko and Katara always seemed to be at odds over something. Now that they were friends, it was only ever over trivial matters, and eventually most of their group of friends threw their hands up and stopped trying to make peace. Those two idiots could work it out on their own.

There was one thing, though, that they _were_going to get one of them to break on.

"Just tell him how you feel already," Toph said exasperatedly to Katara one day.

Katara crossed her arms, not bothering to turn away since Toph couldn't see her blush anyway. "For the last time, Toph, I am NOT in love with Zuko!"

Toph groaned and shook her head.

"Come on! I've given you permission to date her for Tui's sake, just ask her out!"

Zuko cringed with embarrassment and prayed Sokka would take it as disgust.

"Sokka, I only like Katara as a friend. I keep telling you this!"

Sokka sighed in annoyance.

They'd have to keep working at it.

* * *

**Demons**

Zuko is out shopping one day, when he passes a display case that makes him do a double take. On closer inspection, it's not exactly the same as the mask he once wore. The markings over the eyes are different, and the shade of blue is much lighter. It's still an uncanny resemblance, enough that Zuko buys it on the spot.

He brings it home and doesn't know what to with it. Should he hang it up? Hide it away? Throw it in the trash and forget he ever bought it?

He's still thinking about it when the door opens, and Katara walks in after her daily waterbending practice. She sits beside him, greeting him with a sweet kiss that is cut short when she sees what he's holding.

"Is that…"

When she doesn't finish the question, Zuko looks into her expectant eyes.

"I've never told you about everything I did back then, have I?"

* * *

**Traditions**

Technically, there was nothing the Council could do to stop the new Fire Lord from taking a Water Tribe woman for a wife. Katara was close to Zuko in age, healthy, a bender, and the daughter of a prominent figure in the Southern Water Tribe. Indeed, many of them soon got used to the idea. There were still a few, mostly the older members, who couldn't wrap their heads around it.

They mentioned it in passing one day, when they were alone with the Fire Lord at a meeting, that never before in the history of their nation had a Fire Lord taken a woman from another nation as his wife.

Zuko looked to them with hard eyes and said: "There's a first time for everything."

* * *

**Forbidden**

The Fire Lord's personal study is closed off to everyone but the Fire Lord himself. Only a few others are granted access and only in dire emergencies. Otherwise, it is only for the Fire Lord's use, for him to read or deliberate on a difficult matter, or just spend some time to himself.

When Zuko becomes Fire Lord, he is not the first person to enter this sacred space. First, he hires a team of builders to completely re-do the room, so to remove any trace of Ozai left. When the work is complete, Zuko finally makes use of it. It's the last place he brings Katara on her tour of the palace, and they spend the whole night there, drinking tea and chatting.

* * *

**Serenity**

Sometimes, Zuko wakes up in the middle of the night, and sometimes it's for no reason at all. He'll just open his eyes and stare at the ceiling, unable to make out anything in the darkness. He'll feel movement beside him; Katara is still fast asleep and turns over to face him. Zuko looks down at her beautiful face and a feeling of warmth come over him. He lays back down and loosely wraps an arm around her. Sometimes, she'll reach out in her sleep and embrace him back. Zuko falls back asleep even faster on those nights, the most peaceful he has ever spent.

* * *

**Tea**

Katara's second pregnancy went a lot less smoothly than her first. Intense morning sickness and high fevers left her on edge, though the palace healers insisted that the baby was healthy and would be born with minimal issue. Desperate to help his wife relax, Zuko brought her a steaming cup of tea one morning and placed it in her waiting hands.

"Uncle taught me to make it," he said. "It's supposed to settle upset stomachs. I thought it might help you."

Katara looked at the cup and tried not to grimace. She'd lost her taste for tea early in her pregnancy. She should have told him that before he went to all this trouble.

"Thanks Zuko," she said, and took a small sip to placate him.

He left her alone after that, though not by choice. A page had arrived with urgent news that required the Fire Lord's attention. Katara assured him that she'd be fine on her own, gave him a sweet kiss on the lips and sent him off.

She set the full teacup aside, unable to bring herself to have anymore. She had to admit, though, her stomach felt a little better.

* * *

**Light**

There's a single night once every year where the stars are at their brightest. Many see it as a sign of hope and good luck for the coming year. Some even hold parties in honor of the day. Zuko's never cared too much, but this year, he finds himself out on the balcony with Katara in his arms and her head resting against his chest. They stare up at the sky, at the stars that twinkle with all that they have. He thinks he's only just noticing now how beautiful they really are.

* * *

**Holiday**

Zuko and Katara's diplomatic trip to Ba Sing Se just so happens to coincide with the Earth Kingdom's most widely celebrated holiday. They call it the 'Day of the Dance' because the actual name is too long and too difficult to pronounce, so that not even the King bothers trying anymore.

The royal couple sits high up with the Earth King, watching for hours as dancers and benders alike demonstrate their skills to an impossibly enthusiastic crowd who still pale in comparison to their King. He screams and whoops with joy at the end of every dance, knocking things over in his exuberance. By nightfall, Zuko and Katara have gone from sitting right next to him to all the way on the other side of the balcony.

It occurs to them, upon leaving for home a week later, that they forgot to ask just what was being celebrated.

* * *

**Similarity**

They don't notice it right away. Hell, they need Sokka, of all people, to point it out. It's when they're sitting in Iroh's tea shop, arguing about something that happened along the way. It doesn't matter what it was, just that it was trivial and they would forget what it was by the next day anyway. They had just been given their drinks, and Katara was taking a sip while Zuko rubbed his thumb against the steaming cup. They were refusing to look at each other, neither noticed Sokka's eyes on them until he spoke.

"So are you guys always going to order the same kind of tea, or what?"

* * *

**Atonement**

"But I am ready to forgive you."

She walks to him, and Zuko is frozen in place. He honestly didn't expect that, didn't think this would really be enough to earn back her trust. She is smiling at him, and it reaches her eyes. He realizes this is really happening. She really is standing before him and launching herself at him. He really is hugging her back for the brief three seconds she's in his arms. He really does watch her walk away when it's over, feeling that he doesn't deserve this, but wishing she'd stayed longer.

* * *

**Steam**

Their first son was a firebender; their daughter, a waterbender. When their son was seven and their daughter was five, they made an amazing discovery while playing one day. When their son created a flame and their daughter put it out, it would create a smoky trail of steam that hovered in the air around them. More than that, if they kept at it, they could create even more steam, enough to fill the room.

Zuko and Katara walked in to get them ready for bed, and couldn't even see their hands in front of their faces. They only knew someone was there from the ringing laughter of mischievous children. Zuko took over scolding them that night, while Katara waited in their bedroom, running hands over her swollen stomach. A small part of her hoped their third child would be a non-bender.

* * *

**Gravity**

Zuko sat under a tree on a lovely spring day with Katara in his arms and their lips fused together. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence, not since their engagement was announced and she'd come to live in the Fire Nation permenantly. Whenever they both had free time, they sought each other out. Closets, dark rooms, the space behind Zuko's desk, and more became scenes for their encounters. Never once had they been caught, and so they became more daring.

Today was the first day they'd taken it outside, under the old pear tree in the courtyard. There is usually no one around at this time of day. The keyword being _usually_. They like the vague sense of danger it brings. They may push it a little further next time.

Neither of them can think of new locations right now, as their thoughts are clouded by each other. Their tongue mesh together, a dance that they are fighting to lead. It ends when Zuko pushes Katara into the tree, and the branches above them shake. The next thing Katara knows, Zuko is completely off of her and yelping. She opens her eyes and has a split second to watch him rubbing a bump on his head, and then something lands on her own head and she sees stars.

She groans in pain, mimicking her fiance in massaging her skull. Someone who isn't Zuko laughs and they both freeze. They slowly turn to face Iroh, who smiles knowingly at them.

"Have to be careful with that tree," he says. "The fruit it bares is sweet, but it falls hard."

Zuko and Katara share a glance, their faces bright red. Iroh gives another laugh.

"But now that I have your attention, Nephew, you are ten minutes late for a meeting with the council."

* * *

**Eve**

The sun is going down. Katara sits at the edge of the pool, her bare feet submerged in the cooling water. She looks out at the darkening sky. It's normally a beautiful sight, but tonight it gives her a sense of foreboding. She can't stop thinking about what tomorrow will bring.

She sees Zuko out the corner of her eye, approaching her slowly, then sitting down beside her. She doesn't react to his presence, but looks down at his feet- larger than hers- swirling the water around them. Her gaze trails up to his fingers, which are knotted together. It doesn't take a genius to tell he's no more relaxed than she is.

He starts to speak, barely getting a syllable out before he chokes. Katara doesn't know what he was going to say, if it was meant to be comforting or if he just wanted to unload his anxiety on her. Her hands twitch, and she finds herself moving without realizing it. She places her hand on top of his. His skin is warm like the air around a campfire. It eases the chill that courses through her body. He shifts positions, so that he can free one of his hands and cover hers. He tightens his grip, putting gentle pressure on her hand. Katara doesn't mind, she thinks this is good for the both of them.

Tomorrow is the day the world has prepared for for 100 years. Tomorrow, Zuko will have to face his demons once and for all. Tomorrow, they all might not live to see the sunset.

Sitting by the pool with Zuko, watching the sky go from deep red to a blue that is far too close to black, Katara feels fear, but more than that, she has hope.

She knows the day after tomorrow will be beautiful.


End file.
